Past Lives, Present Tense
by Jiltanith
Summary: Andromeda Ascendant Captain Dylan Hunt is too stable. Chapter 4, the end, is up at last!
1. Ch 1 Busted

Disclaimer: The story is mine, but the characters, setting, etc. all mostly belong to big corporations, although there are a few who may be in the public domain.  
  
A/N: This is a crossover of Andromeda and another show. I'm not going to say what just yet, but it should be fairly obvious. I was hoping someone would write this so that I could read it, but since I can't find any indication that anyone is, I'm taking a stab at it myself. This is complicated by the fact that I haven't seen as much of either show as I should to be writing about them, so please let me know about any errors; we'll probably have to consider this AU for both shows anyway. Also note: this is probably pre-slash, but I'm not sure yet.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Chapter One: Busted  
  
Tyr had been watching Dylan for quite some time, and finally Harper had to ask him why. "He's too stable," Tyr said. "He's been through so much, more than any one should have to deal with in such a short period of time. He should be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but he isn't. It's unnatural for a normal to be so stable."  
  
Harper thought about that; it was true, Dylan had lost his home, his fiancee, his trust in his best friend, everything he knew and cared about- except Andromeda. "Maybe he's just so focused on rebuilding the Commonwealth that it hasn't hit home."  
  
"No, I think he's less obsessed with the new Commonwealth since we don't have to worry about the Magog and your spawn anymore. So if that were the case, he should have had a release by now."  
  
Harper thought some more; finally he decided that the simplest way to find out what was going on in Dylan's head was to ask Dylan himself.  
  
"Why I haven't succumbed to all of the stress I've been under since Andromeda came out of the singularity? You're right, there's a fairly simple explanation for it. You see, this isn't the first time I've lost everything that was important to me; and I know how to deal with loss. It's a lesson I've unfortunately had the chance to learn very well," Dylan answered, continuing with the work he was doing.  
  
"But there's nothing in your records about you suffering that kind of loss," Rommie protested.  
  
"Well, there' s a reason for that too," Dylan replied, concentrating on the board he was working on.  
  
Harper and the others waited, but it seemed that Dylan had said all that he considered necessary on the matter. Finally Beka broke the silence, "And what reason is that?"  
  
"What? Oh," Dylan look surprised, then, astonishingly, blushed. "Rommie, don't enter this in ship's records, please. Whatever concerns you have, I'll cover with you privately." Finally he turned to the others with a sheepish look on his face. "The thing is, you see, that almost everything in my High Guard records before I entered the Academy is fabricated."  
  
Naturally this provoked quite an outcry from everyone present.  
  
"Yes, it's unusual, but not unprecedented; when it does happen it is usually for the protection of the person involved. In my case, the problem goes back to my childhood; my parents weren't married, my father never could resist a pretty woman, and his wife didn't like to be confronted with the evidence of his straying, so she hated me."  
  
"But it wasn't your fault," Harper protested.  
  
"No, but she didn't care; I was proof that she wasn't enough for him, you see. And I grew up, fell in love, married, and started a family-and she finally decided she couldn't handle it anymore and murdered my wife and our children. But she was so powerful, she'd hidden the trail so well there was no way to prove that she was behind it. She tried quite a few times to kill me too, and finally it seemed that the best solution was to change my identity so completely that she wouldn't be able to find me . . . and eventually I wound up at the High Guard Academy."  
  
"Would we know her name, would we find her in the records?" Beka wondered.  
  
"You might, but I'm not giving you her name," Dylan said firmly. "I'm not risking her finding out who I am these days."  
  
"But she'd have to be dead by now," Harper said with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
"Why?" Dylan replied calmly. "I'm still here, after all. I wouldn't want to bet anyone's life that she isn't."  
  
There didn't seem to be anything more to say to that. The others drifted off the bridge, heading back to their own duties now that the revelations seemed to be over. Only Trance saw Dylan's eyes on Harper.  
  
TBC 


	2. Ch 2 Curiosity

For disclaimer, see Chapter One  
  
Chapter Two: Curiosity  
  
Rommie seemed satisfied with whatever Dylan had told her, and wasn't inclined to share--not too surprising, since Dylan had asked her to wait for privacy to ask him anything and to not put anything in ship's records, he would certainly have asked her not to pass on the information.  
  
On the surface, Dylan's confession hadn't changed anything; everyone was still doing the same work, playing the same roles.  
  
Something subtle had changed in the atmosphere of the ship, however. Perhaps it was simply knowing that Dylan was perfectly capable of lying, and lying well, when he needed to. Dylan had always seemed too noble to lie well; that he could meant he was much more likely to be a survivor. Beka and Harper both preferred to work with survivor-types, and of course, so did Tyr.  
  
Harper noticed something different in the way Trance treated Dylan too; she seemed somehow more confident in him, and he noticed them talking from time to time. Dylan seemed a bit more relaxed himself, which was definitely a good thing.  
  
However, for his own part, Harper was extremely curious, and extremely frustrated because there didn't seem to be anything he could do about satisfying his curiosity. He couldn't ask Dylan since the matter was obviously a still a sore spot--how could it not be?--and even Harper didn't expect to run a successful data search on the deaths of a woman and children over three centuries ago, particularly since Tarn Vedra wasn't accessible. Rommie wasn't going to tell him anything, Beka and Tyr were as much in the dark as he was, and there was no point in asking Trance. He could tell himself that the matter was none of his business, but everyone knew that he was nosy. He just couldn't think of any way to stick his nose in.  
  
It wasn't as though he didn't have plenty to keep him busy . . . Andromeda was a big ship for one man to keep up, even Harper. Well, he'd leave it alone for the time being; eventually he'd think of something, some way to find out more.  
  
Tbc  
  
A/N: Thanks to my two reviewers so far. See, I said the other show was pretty obvious! There will be more, assuming the muses cooperate . . . the third part has already given me a few flutters. 


	3. Ch 3 Waiting

Harper's dreams recently had been memorable. Usually he didn't remember his dreams, but these dreams were different. He went to bed every night and dreamed another chapter in the life of a man on old pre-space Earth, who lived the life of an adventurer, with fantastic adventures involving monsters, myths, and resurrection--and just to add to the surreal atmosphere provided by the various mythical creatures, Dylan was in the dreams too, except that he wasn't called Dylan.  
  
Amazingly enough, they were internally consistent, too; although they didn't necessarily fall into chronological order--one night he'd be a mature adult in the dreams and the next night a teenager--they always had the Dylan character, some of the same supporting characters, and the same non-Standard language, which he somehow understood and was even fluent in.  
  
Harper found himself treating the dreams as though they were memories, as though he himself had lived through the events they portrayed. Even though he couldn't have.  
  
He found himself watching Dylan more often, and sometimes found Dylan looking back at him with a thoughtful look on his face. It was almost as though Dylan was waiting for something.  
  
Harper found that he was retaining fluency in that other language, whatever it was, even while he was awake. He was even starting to think in it sometimes, although it didn't have the vocabulary to deal with many of the things in his real life. But when he managed to drop his biggest wrench on his foot, what came out wasn't in Standard.  
  
A/N Sorry for the delay in posting this; there's been another bunny nipping at me. But there should still be more of this one to come. 


	4. Ch 4 Completion

On the bridge, Rommie was reporting on the status of various projects to her Captain and First Officer. Her voice, unsurprisingly, didn't change as she mentioned to Dylan that his personal project had reached the next stage.

Beka was curious. "What's that, Dylan?"

"Nothing major, Beka. You know Rommie has various experiments going; this is one I suggested to her some time ago," Dylan replied.

At shift's end, when Harper returned to his quarters, he found a package on his bunk, with a note from Dylan.

_ Harper,_

_ When you're done with this, I've got another one for you. _

_ But you need to read this one first. _

_ Dylan_

Harper opened the package to find a book--a real, honest-to-god paper book, something he'd never actually seen before. He found some thin protective gloves to use so he wouldn't get skin oils on the book. When he opened it, carefully of course, one of the first things he noticed was a statement that the book was printed on archival acid-free paper with acid-free ink, which went some way to explaining why this book, if it wasn't an expensive replica, wasn't falling apart. Turning another page or two, he found the title page. It stated that the title of the book was **So You Think You've Had a Past Life**.

It was a good thing he was alone in the room, Harper thought absently as he slammed the book shut. He managed not to throw it across the room for fear of damaging it, but he was almost positive that the blood had drained from his face. How had Dylan known?

Irrelevant at this point, he decided. Opening the book once more, he found that it was very readable, informative, yet with a touch of humor in the style that would have kept him reading even had he not had such a personal interest in the subject. And the more he read, the more it became obvious that the author had either had the same experience he'd had, or been very close to someone who had. What he was reading about was far too close to his own experience for comfort.

Dreams, familiar people, waking memories . . .

He finished the book just in time to catch a little sleep before his shift. Sleep which was filled with yet more dreams . . . memories?

He had a lot to think about over the next waking period, and he caught Trance watching him again. Beka had something to say about his split attention, so he forced himself to pay attention to the engine updates he was working on. Fortunately, he wasn't working with Tyr on this project. He would never have allowed himself to let his attention drift with the Nietzschean around to notice.

When he got back to his bunk after his duty shift he found another package, with another book. **The Uncensored Greek Mythology, volume 14; the Demigod Children of Zeus**. It had a marker part way through the book and another note:

_ Harper,_

_ Don't read any part of this one out loud, especially the names. _

_ I have my reasons; if you don't figure them out by reading this,_

_ I'll be very surprised._

_ Dylan_

This turned out to be another very readable book; in fact, although the author's name was not the same, Harper thought that the style was extremely similar to the first book Dylan had sent. And after reading the section that began where the marker was, Harper thought that there might be a very good reason for that. He was also pretty sure he knew the reasons Dylan mentioned in his latest note.

That night, he dreamed again.

The next morning, he caught Dylan's eye and grinned at him in a way he knew the Dylan-lookalike in his dreams would recognize, in the way he would have in that earlier life. Dylan smiled back, and winked.

Hercules and Iolaus, together again.

Nothing could stop them now.


End file.
